Virginia Women Swim 4th-Fastest 200 Yard Medley Relay in History

2019 TENNESSEE INVITATIONAL

• November 21st-24th, 2019
• Alan Jones Aquatic Center, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee
• SCY, Prelims/Finals
• Meet Details
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results
• Results on MeetMobile: 2019 UT Invite

The women from the University of Virginia started off Friday evening’s finals session at the Tennessee Invitational with a bang by winning the 200 medley relay in 1:33.91. Not only is that an NCAA Automatic Qualifying Time and a new ACC Conference Record, it’s faster than the time that won the 2019 NCAA Title in the event.

The old Virginia Record was the team’s 1:35.21 from last year’s ACC Championship meet, while the ACC Record belonged to NC State’s relay from last year that swam a 1:34.52 with Elise Haan, Sophie Hansson, Sirena Rowe, and Ky-Lee Perry.

Virginia’s Friday Evening Relay Splits:

• Caroline Gmelich, junior, backstroke – 23.93
• Alexis Wenger, sophomore, breaststroke – 26.49
• Kate Douglass, freshman, butterfly – 22.35
• Morgan Hill, senior, freestyle – 21.14
• Total Time – 1:33.91

The final time for the Cavaliers is the 4th-best 200 medley relay in history.

The front-half of that relay of Gmelich and Wenger is the same front-half that finished 8th at last year’s NCAA Championships. Gmelich is a secret weapon of sorts on that Virginia relay – 2 years ago, she didn’t make Virginia’s ACC Championship relay, and now she’s one of the few swimmers who is capable of leading off the 200 medley relay sub-24.

Wenger’s split was 4-tenths faster on Friday than it was on NCAAs, and the 26.49 represents a time that would be faster than any swimmer went at NCAAs last season aside from the now-graduated Lilly King.

Douglass’ fly split is faster than all but 1 swimmer from the NCAA final, Duke’s Alyssa Marsh, and Hill’s 50 free anchor split is over a second better than Kyla Valls split for the Cavaliers on this relay last season at NCAAs.

Tennessee won last year’s NCAA title in 1:34.10, and with a front-row seat, and three returning legs from that relay, they were 2nd on Friday evening in 1:35.61. Erika Brown split 20.89 on the anchor leg for the Volunteers.

Last season, Virginia dropped big time from their mid-season invite to the end of the year. In this 200 medley relay, for example, they improved from a 1:37.66 at the Georgia Invitational in late November to a 1:35.21 at the ACC Championships (before adding a second at NCAAs). If that pattern holds, the year-end possibility for this relay becomes especially tantalizing.

Fastest-Ever Women’s 200 Yard Medley Relays:

1. Stanford 2018 (Howe, Williams, Hu, Manuel) – 1:33.11
2. Cal 2018 (Baker, Weitzeil, Thomas, Bilquist) – 1:33.85
3. Indiana 2018 (Rockett, King, Jensen, Hackett) – 1:33.89
4. Virginia 2019 (Gmelich, Wenger, Douglass, Hill) – 1:33.91
5. Cal 2017 (Baker, Weitzeil, Thomas, Osman) – 1:34.10